366 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15 



not always sought to be reasonably open to 

 conviction, early teaching, prejudice, and 

 past conviction would probably still hold me 

 in the ranks of what we now look upon as 

 baby honey-nuclei. I ha-ve sold to my own 

 profit eight- frame Langstroth hives for what 

 I could get for them, afterward replacing 

 them with the twelve-frame. In the non- 

 swarming method I use, we must consider 

 the hive, the bees, their location, and the 

 method of manipulation. 



A ditch which I was willing to concede to 

 the enemy of large hives was that the small- 

 er hive was better for comb honey. This, 

 too, has been fought for, and, in my estima- 

 tion, has, by solid reason, been vanquished 

 and taken. Which builds up more rapidly 

 in the spring— a two-frame nucleus or an 

 eight-frame hive? This is easily answered. 

 To put it as favorably as possible to the 

 small-hive advocate, "Which multiplies in 

 bees the morerapidly— a hive with 3000 bees 

 or one with 12,000, other things being equal, 

 so long as they are not crowded? The larg- 

 er number will double first. On the same 

 ground, a colony which never swarmed in 

 1905 (and filled its twelve-frame brood-cham- 

 ber in the fall as well as another an eight- 

 frame), winter and other conditions being 

 equal will build up faster in the spring. I 

 have had lots of colonies in the spring, fill- 

 ing their twelve combs just as well as eight- 

 frame; in fact, not having swarmed they are 

 more uniform. Strong colonies is what we 

 want every time and all the time providing 

 you give them room. We are told colonies 

 may be too strong; the moderate pull ahead 

 in the end. With a great big magnified 

 laugh people have told me they tried large 

 hives and they were the first to swarm. I 

 grant colonies may be too strong if improp- 

 erly managed. Room not being given in 

 the brood-chamber, and it being allowed to 

 be honey-clogged, the strong colony, when 

 willow, maple, or fruit bloom comes, will 

 crowd with honey the brood-chamber and 

 curtail the brood-nest, and swarm or fall 

 behind for lack of brood room, when the 

 weaker, not storing surplus, but with enough 

 for stimulation and immediate requirements, 

 gains upon the stronger and outstrips it. 

 For such a condition no allowance need be 

 made in intelligent modern bee-keeping. 

 We may all allow this at times; but the sys- 

 tem is not at fault— our management is. 



To those who laugh at the early swarms 

 from larger hives, the above applies; in ad- 

 dition, the fact that, having a larger force 

 to begin with, they build up faster, and will 

 swarm unless properly managed. If con- 

 traction is practiced, the large hive has no 

 greater need (if as much need) of contrac- 

 tion than the smaller, and is even better for 

 comb honey than the smaller. 



There are far more queens able to use a 

 twelve-frame brood-chamber than bee-keep- 

 ers realize. Because a queen is not keeping 

 an eight-frame brood-chamber full of brood 

 is not always a reason for " pinching her," 

 and is far from proof that she could not fill 

 a twelve if given a chance. It is quite as 



often proof that the bee-keeper needs pinch- 

 ing. What I mean is that brood- chambers 

 are often allowed to be honey and pollen 

 clogged, and in a condition where there is 

 not proper room. Here lies a foundation 

 truth in successful bee-keeping; and how a 

 more uniform yield per colony could be se- 

 cured, straight evenly spaced combs, not so 

 old that the bees are waiting for a " rainy 

 day" to chew them down and make them 

 fit for brood. Seeing that there is plenty of 

 honey, but not too much, and that if the 

 colony has been queenless through swarm- 

 ing, or otherwise, and has become honey 

 and pollen clogged, see that the new queen 

 has ample room to lay without the bees 

 making the room at a loss of time to bees 

 and queens. To keep a laying queen in the 

 hive all the time, as can be done when not 

 swarming, is a valuable simple way of gain- 

 ing some points in the system. Some varie- 

 ties of bees, especially strains of Italians, 

 are more apt to pack honey about the brood, 

 and must be watched more, and this trait 

 properly directed. Bruise honey so as to 

 bleed; uncap honey so as to bleed; and if 

 there is too much in the brood- chamber, put 

 it elsewhere; either give to colonies not so 

 well provided, or, if strong enough and sea- 

 sonable, give a super with one or more 

 combs, or remove entirely. I took about 

 fifty combs, for this reason, from the brood- 

 chambers last season. I was too much rush- 

 ed to attend to them, and the moth destroy- 

 ed them. That is bad enough; but it paid 

 better than to cut down the capacity of my 

 twelve-frame Langstroth brood-chambers. 



There is a great difference in bees as 

 to swarming. I am not prepared to say 

 that, if I ran only one apiary, it would not 

 be Carniolan bees I would keep. If Mr. As- 

 pinwall's hive proves to be a non-swarmer 

 it is Carniolans I shall have; but in runnmg 

 out-yards and with the busy season we have, 

 bees are sometimes allowed to crowd even 

 our large hives, and then the Carniolans re- 

 sent the restricted energy more than other 

 varieties. I admit they are too much for 

 me in their purity at present; but I aim at 

 having them about ore- third blood Carniolan. 

 Some strains of Italians doing good work 

 too, but probably not the best, are easily 

 kept from swarming. Begin with strong 

 stocks in the apiary, and you have a difficul- 

 ty in preventing swarming the badly winter- 

 ed and weak colonies do not give. Have a 

 long flow with but little of break between 

 blossoms, and you have a difficulty those 

 with short and sharp flows do not experi- 

 ence. The condition of many of my colonies 

 and the conditions under which they are 

 placed are most trying as to swarming, and 

 more is accomplished than many will realize 

 who are not similar l^^laced. As soon as the 

 brood-chamber is crowded, and the bees re- 

 quire room, supers are put on; a queen-ex- 

 cluder, with only a wooden rim and two 

 cross-pieces, is put in place. I grant there 

 may be a greater tendency to swarm with 

 queen- excluders, but not much if the per- 

 forations in the metal are obstructed as lit- 



